Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Discounts at Myrtle Beach? This is the
time of year to look for them ‑- when the big-venue holiday shows are done and
before Can-Am Days -- March 14-22 this year -- officially opens the 2015
vacation season for frost-bitten refugees from Ontario.

VacationMyrtleBeach.com,
a group of 14 oceanfront resorts, is pushing a Stay+Play Free Family Fun
promotion: Book at one of the hotels and get free or two-fer admission deals to
various area attractions.

The details:

Buy one, get one Legends in Concert ticket for
stays through May 31.

Buy one, get one ticket to Alabama Theatre‘s “ONE the Show” for stays through March 31 and for May 1-31.

Buy one, get one free Banana Boat ride in the Atlantic with Downwind Sails for stays April 1-May 21.

Buy one, get one free ticket to WonderWorks museum (shown at the top of this post) through March 15.

One free entry to select House of Blues events, including March 14
Badfish concert and March 21 Local Brews, Local Grooves event.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Just seeing "Huguenot" doesn't make it easier to
say. (Try "HUGH-ga-not.")

It's a French word, and it turns up on tourist maps of Charleston: The downtown's
French Quarter ‑ the warren of streets east of King Street, from Market Street south to about Tradd Street ‑ is
sometimes called the Huguenot Quarter.

And west of there, on West Street near Logan Street, is the Huguenot Society of
South Carolina.

Here's the skinny.

Religious wars in the 1500s tore up French society. French Calvinists,
called Huguenots, included members of the nobility, many in the middle class,
and a share of the peasantry.

They became a political as well as a religious force as different
nobles lined up to contest who would become king as the tottering Valois dynasty was about to crash.

The mother of King Francis II, Catherine de Medici, was ardently
anti-Protestant, and her faction organized the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre
on Aug. 23-24, 1572, which resulted in the murder of 5,000 to 30,000 Huguenots
in Paris and elsewhere in the kingdom.

Huguenots began leaving France
in huge numbers for refuge in Protestant lands, notably Great Britain, settling in London and in the West Country.

It wasn't always the best fit: English Protestants weren't
Calvinists; also, the language and culture were quite different.

When the American colonies were being settled, many
Huguenots left England for the New World, especially Charleston.

A list of family names posted by the Huguenot Society of America lists many surnames still common in the Carolinas:
from Ballinger and Bodine to Ravenal and Vincent. Many who settled in Charleston lived in what came to be the
French Quarter.

The first 45, who
came in 1680 ,played a role in shaping Charleston's
culture and food -- a contribution celebrated March 11 with a Huguenot Tour and
Cooking Class staged by Charleston Culinary Tours.

The rain-or-shine walking tour includes tastings at
Brasserie Gigi, In the Kitchen ( the restaurant of tour leader and chef Bob
Waggoner, shown above), Cafe Framboise and ends with a sugary flourish at
Christophe Artisan Chocolatier-Patissier.

It's French. It's Southern. And it's a different blend of those
cuisines than you'll find in the Creole fare of New Orleans.

Moreover, attendance is limited to 12 individuals who must
be 21 or older. Tickets are $150 and are available at Charleston Culinary Tours.

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

The coolest small towns in America? It's not anybody's
guess... but anyone's vote can count in
a Budget Travel promotion.

The annual civic beauty contest runs through 11:59 p.m. Feb.
25; it is open to municipalities that have less than 19,000 residents.

And as of Tuesday, North
Carolina had two burgs in the top 15: Hillsborough
and Washington.

Here are the rankings so far:

1. Grand Marais. Minn. (24.3 percent)

2. Chincoteague, Va.
(21.0 percent)

3. Hillsborough
(9.9 percent)

4. Washington (7.9 percent)

5. Allegan, Mich.
(7.0 percent)

6. Delhi, N.Y.
(6.4 percent)

7. Fort Myers Beach, Fla.:
(5.8 percent)

8. Old Orchard Beach, Maine: (4.2 percent)

9. Snohomish, Wash.
(4.1 percent)

10. Berkeley Springs, W.V. (2.8 percent)

11. Huron,
Ohio (2.6 percent)

12. Pismo Beach,
Calif. (2.1 percent)

13. Crested Butte, Colo. (0.9 percent)

14. Ka’anapali, Hawaii
(0.9 percent)

15. Blanco,
Texas (0.3 percent)

Sorry, but the deadline has passed for nominations, and
write-ins are not allowed.

This being an election, there of course seems to be
skullduggery at the crossroads. Various tourism sites in northern Minnesota
(northlandsnewscenter.com, boreal.org, visitcookcounty.com, etc.) are plugging Grand
Marais.

Minnesota
senator Amy Klobuchar send out a note on
this via Twitter. And she has 49,900 people following her. That's far more than
either of North Carolina's
have when combined (Richard Burr: 30,400; Thom Tillis: 28,900).

Hillsborough and Washington are both lovely towns. Then
again, Grand Marais -- the only other place on the list that I've visited -- is
pretty cool. And when the wind tries to blow Grand Marais into Lake Superior this time of year, it can be pretty frigid.

Monday, February 16, 2015

It's the commemoration of the conflagration that destroyed a
part of the capital of South Carolina
as it was being abandoned by Confederates and occupied by federal forces toward
the end of the Civil War.

Tuesday is the 150th anniversary of what came to be known as
the "Burning of Columbia," and events are scheduled throughout the
day.

* At 9 a.m. is a historical reappraisal of what happened
there in February, 1865. The 90-minute panel discussion by scholars will be
held at the Columbia Museum of Art, 1515
Main St. The
session is free, but registration is required.

After a $30 noon luncheon, there's a second free panel
discussion from 2 to 4 p.m.

At 4 p.m., a historical marker about the 1865 fire will be
unveiled at the 1200 block of Main
Street. The ceremony is free and open to the
public.

At 5 p.m. at BoydPlaza, 1515 Main St.,
there's a public commemoration that includes comments by politicians and
historians, performances by the Benedict College Concert Choir and the
Sandlapper Singers, performance art and other music in addition to exhibits and
readings.

At Tapp's ArtCenter, 1644
Main St., there are 7
p.m. readings by poets and writers, followed at 8 p.m. with a live performance
by the jazz-funk band The Dubber.

What does it all add up to? An easy afternoon in an
attractive downtown. And a gathering of question marks about who caused the figure, and what
the blaze signified in both the short and long run.

Experts are divided over whether the fire was the work of

1. retreating Confederates, under the command of Gen. Wade
Hampton

2. local looters.

3. enraged federal troops, under the command of Gen. William
Sherman, who had just liberated a Confederate POW camp in West
Columbia.

After a century and a half, it's all academic. And more than a tad ironic.

Since World War II, Columbia has gladly welcomed thousands upon
thousands of federal troops: Camp Jackson, on Columbia's southeastern
outskirts, is the Army's training facility, a 52,000 acre compound that,
according to wikipedia, employs "almost 4,400 civilians and provides
services for more than 115,000 retirees and their family members."

It goes on to say that the installation pumps more than
$716.9 million into the area economy.

About the engraving at the top of this post: The POW camp in
West Columbia was called CampSorghum.
Two months before it was liberated, 500 captured Union officers were moved
there from a smaller compound, in downtown Columbia, on the grounds of the old State
Lunatic Asylum.

7. The Stinking Rose, San
Francisco. Everything from appetizers to desserts is
heavy with garlic.

8. The Safe House, Milwaukee. The gimmick at this long-established bar is getting in: After walking down an alley, the person at the door asks for the password. Since you don't know it, you are required to sing a song not of your choosing, or do something stupid with a hula hoop.

Monday, February 9, 2015

If JacksonCounty doesn't immediately pop up on
your mental radar, these beautiful destinations in that area of Western
North Carolina will: Cashiers, Cullowhee, Dillsboro and Sylva.

Or think of the gorgeous
stretches of highway that take you there, notably U.S. 74 and U.S. 64. One of
the top scenic drives in that part of the state is the Great Smoky Mountains
Expressway -- a four-lane divided stretch of U.S. 74-19-23-441 -- that connects BrysonCity,
Sylva and Waynesville to Interstate 40.

In the just-out 2015 version
of "Our Town," the 10th edition of the annual magazine published by
the Jackson County Chamber, you'll find visitor information for locales,
attractions and more.

Articles in the 44-page
effort highlight the return of fireworks to Sylva and a spotlight on the philanthropy practiced by nearby Harrah's Cherokee Casino, which is just 20
miles northwest of Sylva.

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Friday's CLT section has a Daytrips article about heading up
to MountAiry
Saturday, for the WPAQ 67th anniversary celebration at the HistoricEarlTheater.

"Mayberry tourism" aside, WPAQ helps put MountAiry
on the travel map with its "Merry Go Round" program, which is
broadcast live from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. every Saturday. It features local and regional artists playing
bluegrass and old-time mountain music before a live audience.

This show has been going on since 1948.

This Saturday, for the station's anniversary, there'll also be
a two-hour concert and dance at the HistoricEarlTheatre.

And there's more to come.

The Surry Arts Council has announced new concerts in its Blue Ridge
& Beyond music series that will bring several "name" musicians to
the historic, 425-seat theater.

Grammy-winning musician/artist/story teller David Holt will
perform Feb. 26. The 6:30 p.m. performance is free and accompanied by a presentation
of his photography.

Pokey LaFarge, whose music encompasses styles ranging from
old-time to Cajun, will appear Feb. 28. Tickets for the 7:30 show are $20 and
$30.

Rhonda Vincent -- she's pictured at the top of this post --
winner of multiple awards from the International
Bluegrass Music Association, will be
there March 14. She and her band, The
Rage, take the stage at 7:30 p.m.; tickets are $35 and $45.

John Bordsen

About this blog

John Bordsen is the long-time travel editor of The Charlotte Observer. Before moving to Charlotte in 1989, he lived in Wisconsin, Missouri, Kansas and Indiana. His articles and his "Foreign Correspondence" column -- interviews with people who live in countries you may want to visit, or are curious about -- are distributed nationally via the Tribune News Service.